Handwheel for railway car brakes



ay 8, 951 H. E. BARTscH 2,552,083

HAND WHEEL FOR RAILWAY CAR BRAKES Filed Feb. 27, 1948 2 Sheets-Shame@ l Patented May 8, 1951 HANDWHEEL FOR RAILWAY CAR BRAKES Herbert E. Bartsch, Winnetka, Ill., assignor to Universal Railway Devices Co., a corporation of Delaware Application February 27, 1948, Serial No. 11,625

This invention relates to hand brake Wheels for railway cars, and has for its principal objects to speed production, reduce Waste of material, lower cost, and increase suitability for service.

Generally speaking, this is accomplished by making the body portion of the wheel of pressed steel and securing it to a forged hub.

The preferred embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the Wheel;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are diametrical modifications showing different means for securing the body portion to the hub; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section through the rim of the wheel.

The pressed steel body portion includes a rim lil, spokes Il, and an inner hub portion I2, all parts of a concave-convex disk of sheet :metal formed up by dies in a press. The hub i3 has a flange l i to which the hub portion l2 is secured in any suitable manner, such as by rivets I5, as shown in Fig. 2.

This particular embodiment is for a 22-inch Wheel, and the details hereafter mentioned have been found satisfactory in practical use for a wheel of that size.

The hub portion I2 has a flat, circular center area It about 5" in diameter provided with a central opening il generally square and adapted to receive the outer end i8 of the hub, which is l/z" square at the smallest end sloping on an angle of 7 degrees to the flange lil, which it joins through a curved depression I9 (Fig. 4).

Outwardly of the flat area l5, is a concavoconvex web area curved approximately on a radius of 9%.

The spokes il, eight in. number, are also concavo-convex and curve gently outwardly on a radius of approximately 311/2, and the whole body portion from the outer edge 22 of the rim to the inner side of the flat portion I6 is dished St"- The concavo-onvex shape of the web area and the spoke area, and the unbroken character of the web area give added strength to the Wheel for resisting both torsional and bending stresses.

This is important because brakemen are prone, regardless of safetygregulations, t'o use clubs thrust through they hand-hold openings and braced against the brake shaft for applying added leverage to the wheel. This results in severe torsional and bending stresses which the present Wheel, because of its doubly curved 1 Claim. (Cl. i4-'552) shape, is more capable of withstanding than other wheels of lightweight construction.

. In forming the sheet steel body portion, eight irregular openings 2l are formed in the sheet and surrounded by flanges 22, parts of which form sides of the spokes ll and other parts of Which form inner sides Aof the rim lil and an interrupted rim for the hub portion I2.

The flange 22, where it forms a part of the rim, is joined to the rim body by a half-inch radius, as is also the circumscribing flange 23 of. the rim. Those portions of adjacent flanges 22 forming the sides of the spokes l! are substantially parallel, although the shading in the drawing may seem to indicate otherwise.

At the portions of those flanges 22 where the spokes join the rim, indicated by 2li, they are curved on a radius of 11/2, whereby a good gripping surface is presented to the brakemans hand.

The areas of the flange 22 indicated by 25 and 26 are curved on a 1" radius, and that indicated by 2l is curved on a 3A radius.

All the edges of the flanges 22 and the rim flange 25! are rounded and smooth.

The spokes, eight in number, are inclined to radii at approximately 23 degrees, which also contributes to fitting the hand of the brakeman.

By fitting the opening l1 in the pressed steel body portion to the hub, as described, there is a natural engagement of the parts, furnishing strength to resist the turning movements during the application of the brakes. The rivets I5 serve to maintain that arrangement in service. While this construction is satisfactory, many mechanical men will find variations more acceptable.

For example, in Fig. 3 the hub flange 3i) is provided with integral tapered rivets 3l received in tapered openings 32 in the hub portion 33 of the disk and riveted over as indicated at 34. In Fig. 4, the hub portion 35 has integral rivets 36 received in outwardly tapering openings 31 in the hub portion 38 and expanded by a tool, such as a center punch, driven as indicated at 39. In addition, the hub and hub portion are welded as indicated at t@ and lll. Some will prefer to rely on Welding entirely. Others will Wish to use welding as a supplement for some sort of riveting or other fastening.

The flanges in the general area indicated by 24 are very advantageous in forming the appropriate grip, as is also the slope of the spokes. But some will wish to eliminate the flanges along the opposite side of the spoke and the outer edge of the hub portion i2.

The use of eight spokes is quite advantageous with brakemen of small stature, for it gives them a handier length of arc for taking up the slack and applying the braking pressure.

In spite of the well known disadvantages of the material, hand brake wheels have heretofore been made almost entirely of malleable iron, in the manufacturefoi; which 40, to, 50 pounds of iron is put in the furnace for each 20-pound wheel casting, and the rejections of those castings for one cause and another often run as high as 25%.

By making the wheels according to this invention, the waste is greatly reduced, the speed of production is enormously increased, and abetter, more serviceable wheel is had at reduced cost.

I claim:

A hand wheel for car brakes comprisingv a hub and a pressed steel body.; portion, the hub having a non-circular tapered neck portion adaptedto receive a correspondingly shaped opening in the body portionvvith a tight fit and to rest against anrannular-ange provided on the hub, said body portion having a central section which provides a mating'surface With the annular flange portion of* the` hub and` to which it is rigidly attached, a

concavo-convex web section which is substantially continuous and unbroken to resist torsional as Well as bending stresses, a concavo-convex spoke section merging with the web section but having a substantially larger radius of curvature than the web section, said spoke section having a plurality of openings therein surrounded by upstanding marginal flanges to provide hand-holds for rotation of the Wheel, and a circular rim section around the spoke section of the Wheel body.

HERBERT E. BARTSCH REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,488,155 Kadel Mar. 25, 1924 1,823,562 Husted Sept. 15, 1931 1,833,278 Cummins Nov. 24, 1931 1,861,226 OConnorl May 31, 1932 2,132,413 Stolpe Dec. 5, 1939 2,311,269 Van Cleave Feb. 16, 1943 2,367,679 Holden Jan. 23, 1945 

